Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon
Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon is a video game developed by Animation Magic and released for the Philips CD-i in 1993, on the same day as Link: The Faces of Evil. A follow-up to both games, Zelda's Adventure, arrived in 1994. All three CD-i Zelda games were the product of a compromise between Philips and Nintendo after the two companies failed to release a CD-based add-on for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Gameplay The Wand of Gamelon was the first Zelda game where the player plays as the eponymous Princess. It is played using the side-scrolling view introduced in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. For a variety of reasons, it is generally accepted that this game does not play as tightly as Zelda II. These range from the quality of the CD-i controller, to the speed of the gameplay and the jerkiness of the character animations. Plot In the land of Gamelon, the realm of Duke Onkled falls under attack by Ganon, who has somehow escaped from his prison. To aid his ally, King Harkinian travels to Gamelon and orders Princess Zelda to send Link if he doesn't return in a month. A month passes without a word from the King, so Zelda sends Link to find him. When he too goes missing, Zelda ventures off to Gamelon together with Impa to find Link, the King and Ganon. During Zelda's time in Gamelon, Impa discovers that King Harkinian has been captured, and that Link has engaged in a battle, of which the outcome is unclear. As she adventures across the island, Zelda meets many friendly characters and also defeats the villains Gibdo and Iron Knuckle. She also rescues Lady Alma from Wizzrobe. As a reward for saving her, Alma gives her a canteen that she claims Link gave her in exchange for a kiss. Eventually, Zelda reaches Duke Onkled's palace, Domodai Palace, where it is revealed that Duke Onkled has betrayed the King and is working for Ganon. She storms the palace, kills Ganon's minion Hectan, and saves Fari, an agent of the King who was captured. He reveals the secret entrance to Onkled's chamber, they blackmail him into revealing the entrance to Reesong Palace, where Ganon has taken residence. Before she can battle Ganon however, Zelda requires two items: in the Shrine of Gamelon, she obtains the Wand of Gamelon after defeating the head-switching chimera Omfak; and in Nokani Forest, she obtains the Magic Lantern that can dispel the darkness surrounding Ganon. At Reesong Palace, Zelda fights Ganon and incapacitates him with the Wand, and rescues her father. Back at Hyrule Castle, Duke Onkled is turned over to the king, begging for mercy. He is arrested and sentenced to "scrubbing all the floors in Hyrule". However, it is still unknown what has happened to Link, until Lady Alma makes a derogatory comment about him, prompting Zelda to throw her mirror against the wall, smashing it. This causes Link to magically materialize, seemingly having been trapped in the mirror (why he was in there is never explained). The game ends with everyone laughing at Link's general obliviousness. Criticism The full-motion videos (FMVs) that are used for most of the game's story elements are infamous among the Zelda community for their scripting, dialogue, art style, animation, and voice acting. This, combined with its gameplay, which was vastly different from any other Zelda game, and its production by the non-Nintendo company Philips CD-i, has caused the game to be widely rejected by the Zelda fanbase as a canonical entry in the series. The game is known throughout the industry as one of the worst ever; Electronic Gaming Monthly once heralded the game as the sixth worst, and on a January 2005 episode of G4's Filter, it claimed the number one spot. GameTrailers rated Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon number #5 worst on its Top Ten Best and Worst Video Games list. Because of the reputation of its animated cutscenes, like its counterpart, Link: The Faces of Evil, it has become popular in a huge series of viral videos on YouTube, remixed and spoofed into videos known as "YouTube Poops." Voice Actors *'Bonnie Jean Wilbur' — Princess Zelda *'Jeffrey Nelson' — Gibdo, Iron Knuckle *'Mark Berry' — Ganon, King Harkinian *'Natalie Brown' *'Karen Grace' *'Josie McElroy' *'Jeffrey Rath' — Link *'Marguerite Scott' *'Paul Wann' — Fari, Duke Onkled, Mayor Kravindish, Baker, Hectan, Wizzrobe, Ushrom es:Zelda: The Wand Gamelon it:Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon Category:Games